SOCL

Point, but I was refering to his blond hair in TPM.

Heh. Treaty, Scath?

But if I recall correctly, George II said the same thing when our forces couldn't find Hussein. And now he's saying the same thing about the weapons of mass destruction, since we can't find any. This is what I really took exception to (I felt almost insulted, quite honestly)...so...I'm sorry to break it to you, R2-Opus2, but what you have posted is mostly quite ignorant. This is possible, so I won't argue it. This last statement though cannot further from wrong. The other Arab nations around Iraq could, quite honestly, care less about what happens to Iraq as long as it does not turn into another pre-Castro Cuba (AKA: controlled by the USA). Other nations are more interested in keeping the USA and the other coalition forces out of their nations to care about what happens to Iraq. What they also don't want is Iraq to be split into three sections (which is what some have wanted). One such post-Hussein Iraq nation proposed was "Kurdistan" to the north, but neitehr the Iraqi people, nor the other nations will support such a split (the people who want the split are the immigrant Kurds--from Turkey--and those who want power, most of which have US backing). Sorry to say it, but you thought wrong. The public in the region is not scared of a "free" and/or "democratic" nation...as a matter of fact, they could care less. What the people there do not want is a nation established by the USA and, thus, partially controlled by it. They are not scared, if they were, they wouldn't be opposing us. Plus, I think you have missed the fact these are not the people of the Middle East, these are a small group of people. The ones who fight coaltion forces are another group who, like most, don't want the USA in the Middle East controlling a nation. The people opposing the US are not all the people of the Middle East. I'm sure you've never been oppressed and had another nation rule you through the economy and political pressures (and now, apparently, military force). They fight because they feel oppressed, but are they all? Of course not, that's why they don't all go out and "blow themselves up" for a cause. Again, it's a group, not all the people of the Middle East. Unless, like Vietnam, the war becomes unpopular and the military stops supporting it. And don't tell me that neither one of those won't happen, especially the latter, because I'm sure you don't talk to soldiers and generals everyday about this war (which I, by the way, do). Soliders, when interviewed, have to say a certain line, they are not permitted to speak 100% freely. If you spoke to the majority of the soldiers, though, you would see that they do not want to be there and, won't say it, but do not agree with the war. The media has probably forgotten that the future is at stake here and it's sad to see the news never mentioning--or at least, not making big deals about--successes that have not be violent, for they outnumber the violent ones. What you said here confuses me. You talk about the human element, but the USA pulled out of Somalia because of the human element...a failed operation that got many of my father's and girlfriend's father's close friends killed. No one ever said "we did our best" about Somalia, but instead, people said that we didn't want a repeat of Vietnam (same reason we didn't conduct a ground invasion of Kosovo). Now, yes, we should help the people of Iraq who were oppressed under Hussein, but comparing it to Somalia is a not correct since we didn't leave Somalia hoping the problem would resolve itself, plus, we're trying to establish a government in Iraq, we were not trying to do that in Somalia. Again, to compare the two situations would be and is folly. Yes, but not exclusively from Saddam Hussein, they also feared and still fear the USA, not because we "bring" freedom and democracy, but because of the control they fear the USA will have over them. I acknowledge they feared Hussein, but they also fear the USA. Sorry, but what the media and popular opinion tells us (such as this and that the Arab people all hate us) are lies. They don't fear change from Hussein's rule, instead, they fear that what may come in place of it is rule under George II. Again, another generalization. The people who do these terrorist actions and "never want to associate themselves with the concept of the tolerance of others" are a small, extremist group. Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein: these are exceptions to the majority of the people in the Middle East. It's like the myth that all Muslims hate the USA, it's not true, only a very few amount of Muslims hate the USA. Terrorists can by Middle Easteners (just like they can be Americans, British, Greek, Brazilian, Australia, etc), but all Middle Easteners are not terrorists. I sound like I think I'm 100% correct and such, right? Well, I know I'm not 100% sure, but I do know that most of what you said is not correct. Why? Well, A) My girlfriend (Kelly) lived in Jordan and Kuwait and has spoken to me in the past for very long times about the truth in the Middle East, B) I know MANY soldiers, MANY generals, & MANY admirals and their real opinion is rarely understoood, much less publicly acknowledged, C) I know many people who have lived in the Middle East, D) I have studied the Middle East for quite some time now, and E) I have studied Islam for many years as well. This doesn't make me an expert, but it does allow me to understand the Middle East better and allows me to make educated statements not based on myth, but, instead, fact.

At the moment, the Democrats here are fighting to keep medicare out of the hands of "big business," but with the Republicans dominating the executive branch (Presidency), the legislative branch (Congress), and most of the judicial branch (Supreme Court justices, most appointed by Ronald Reagan), it's a very hard battle...

First, Scath, I propose members who double-post delete the second post. Actually...well...you'll all see...

I had forgotten all of that, Trej. By the way, what ever happened to Anakin's blond hair? I'm sure, you can, Scath...c'mon, try.

Ouch! I don't know, though, man, only a dweeb could make a GIF like the one I use for my avatar... Wait, that's right, you made my avatar, Scath!

I guess so. I didn't realize. But it is an important issue. So there are the ups and downs of socializing medicine, but I sure hope that the USA doesn't make you Costa Rica stop helping the poor. I mean, guys, it's terrible to see people dying everyday from simple (and sometimes not-so-simple) health issues just because they can't afford health care. And if generics work just as well as the "real"--not-generic medicines, then who cares? It costs less, does the same thing, and helps more people (because you can buy more with the money you save)!

Quite true, Trej. Many people have said that with this capture, Bush has basically won the re-election. I mean, it's all politics. Instantly after his capture, all the democratic presidential candidates went into "mud-slinging" mode, quickly running to praise Bush for capturing Hussein (even though most didn't support him before that) and moving against Howard Dean (a candidate who opposes war). Well, I suppose politics is not an honest game, but that's still no excuse. If the people continue in support of the war, then Bush will win the re-election, but if the people decide that the war should end (now that Hussein has been captured), then Bush is done for. Well, I guess we'll see. Now, I don't mean to talk so much about the USA, but I don't know a whole lot more about the other coalition nations, plus the USA dominates it (no matter what anyone else says...just like Bush blew-off the UN's Security Council). Mentioning Milosevic, Trej, you're 100% correct: they hardly made him important. I mean, he was just as bad (maybe even worse, some argue)! So, why do people pay more attention to Hussein? Well, first Milosevic is from the Balkans, a region that doesn't cause people to sit up and pay attention as much as the Middle East. Why this? Well, the USA has been involved in the Middle East for a very long time and after setting it on fire back in the `80s and `90s is now trying to douse those same flames, so people know more about it than the Balkans. Second, Hussein is famous. George I (the first Bush) attacked Iraq back in the early `90s, after the USA sponsored Hussein with weapons and such in civil fighting amongst the Iraqis, bringing the man into the spotlight. After the Persian Gulf War, no one forgot about Hussein. Then, in the mid-90s, Hussein was brought back into center stage when he did not allow UN weapons inspectors into Iraq, so President Clinton (in Operation Desert Fox) cruise-missiled Hussein until the man changed his mind. This was, of course, after extensive negotiations. So, of course, no one has forgotten about Hussein, because the USA has not taken the spotlight on him since George I to acknowledge other evils in this world, and now George II is leading this "crusade against evil." So...the reason more attention is currently given to Hussein over other evil despots is because he has been the center of attention as the "evil in the world" for over a decade! But with Hussein now captured, the public is either going to get tired of this war (because the way many see it, the mission is accomplished and, thus, over) or is going to move to target someone else. I guess we can only wait and see who Bush deems as the next target on his list of "Axis of Evil." Thoughts?

[click] SOCL suddenly sits upright, eyes focused on nothing, and speaks like a robot... "Grand Vizier Scathane is master of all. We must obey our astromech overlord, he rules us." [click] "What?! What happened?!" SOCL looks around, unaware of what he just said...unaware of the chip implanted in his brain... "Hmm...hey, guys, I just got an idea... It's time for a revolution here at SWR.N...."

Well...with a name like Sandboxx.... Just joking! Don't be scared! Stick around SWR.N!

Yes, indeed.... Woo; if that wasn't spam, I don't know what is.

Now you're joking! `Think so, ehh? Well...you're probably right.

Well, that's quite a story. Makes me laugh to think of it, but he is not one of those incompetent commandos, he is one of the better ones. Well, how I got him you ask? (you better ask, damn you!) Well, it goes something like this: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I found an Indian commando blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah We killed the other village people blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and he now works for me with his inconspicuous partner.

Dude, you forgot all the plastic surgeries after stupidly triping into the lava pit (but not really).Yeah, that's right, I don't like Anakin! As far as I'm concerned, he got too close to the stove after an arguement with Obi-Wan and burned himself with a pot of hot greese. All that mechanical gibberish and giant suit...yeah, that's a coverup. And the story about the dual over a volcano or what-not: well, he made it up to sound cool and since no one else could neither confirm nor deny it, the story stuck as "true". Additionally, he killed all the Jedi because he was very much like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (except he was Anakin the Red-Lightsabered Jedi) and he only wanted to play those damned Jedi games (like Force Monopoly and Stone the Sith). Jeez, it that doesn't qualify me as a dweeb, I don't know what does.

Ah, man, now that was low! I...surrender. Oh, shit! As a matter of fact, I was the one who suggested Scath be grand vizier... I even helped with the creation of his insignia... What have I done?!

So what does that make you Scath; Grand Master Dweeb?

I hope that this doesn't happen to you guys in Costa Rica, Trej, because it means the poor won't be able to afford...well...anything! Additionally, it causes the prices of everything to skyrocket without any concern for the income of the nation's citizens. For instance, in the USA we have hospitals that remain idle for weeks at a time, yet a few blocks down we have a poor person die because he or she can't afford medicare. It's sad and sickening. Maybe I'm going to the extreme, but I think you get what I'm saying... ...right?

Like I said earlier, I'm very happy they caught him, but I don't think that the insurgents in Iraq care (I doubt most of them even thought he was in the country, I'm sure they thought he had abandoned them). I think President Bush made a good move by telling the public that just because Saddam Hussein has been captured does not mean the fighting is over. Even so, the majority opinion (at least here on a U.S. Army post and the surrounding communities) is that the war is, in fact, over. Nevermind what the president said and the fact that attacks occured that morning and that evening of the day he was captured, they believe the war will be over even sooner. Blind ignorance, but it's sad to see it coming from those who should know better... ...which makes me wonder... ...what of the rest of the public? I'm also certain that the majority opinion of this war follows the same trend and that people believe that with Saddam in cuffs, the war is over. I mean, it's human nature to want to blame/target a single person as the source of evil. Think about it: when forces were in Afghanistan, the man on everyone's mind was Osama bin Laden, when in fact the forces there were primarily hunting to bring down the Taliban. Okay, so bin Laden wasn't captured...well, immediatley the politicans (sparked by President Bush) caused a big fuss about Iraq in the next target of the "crusade", and who do we all think of when we think of Iraq...none other than Saddam Hussein. So, the public's attention is diverted from hunting a terrorists to taking out an unjust and ruthless despot (of course, we were first going to hunt terrorists, then nations that harbor terrorism, got flack from the UN, so changed it to "hunting" for weapons of mass destruction...we find none, so now it's regime change and bring democracy to Iraq). So in go the troops, but Saddam is nowhere to be found, so the reason for going into Iraq changes (or adds) from taking Saddam out of power to bringing democracy to Iraq. Still, Hussein aludes us and President Bush declares that "finding Saddam is not important to our mission in Iraq." Suddenly, we stumble across this target and the president says "it was important that we find Saddam and bring him to justice for the crimes he has committed." So the public's attention has been diverted to target Saddam as the cause of all evils in Iraq...when in fact it's not only Hussein but his party and his loyalists. The public may soon start to question why we're still in Iraq when we've captured Hussein. I don't mean to say there isn't a reason, but I'm saying is that the majority of the public will think that with Saddam in cuffs there is no reason to stay in Iraq, when in fact there (at this point) remains. Bush has to be careful or else this war will start to become a very unpopular one. Does all this mean I don't support Bush? No, I just think that the way he ahd gone about the Iraq matter has dug him/us into a hole that neither he nor we (we/us = coalition forces) can easily get out of. People wanted Hussein, and now they have him...they won't want more war. I mean, for goodness sake, there's people everyone saying "the mission is accomplished"! I don't support this war, but the president made it clear (in the most recent reason for being in Iraq) the mission was not to capture Hussein, but to bring democracy to Iraq (though it's been many reasons already). That's what I thought was interesting. I may have left out some thoughts I had on the matter, but I don't mean this a stab at Bush or anyone else, just that the public should be informed and should understand that the war (as far as Bush and the other coalition nations are, so far, concerned) is not over. ...phew.

You, most obviously, have not been around SWR.N very long. You'll get used to all the wisecracks, wisecrackers, and the like.

I didn't want to start a new topic for this, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to put it. Any how...I'm just a tad surprised no one has mentioned that Saddam Hussein was recently captured and is currently in custody. I, for one, am very happy they finally caught him, but I'm surprised of the total lack of comments or mentions of this event. Well, sorry, maybe I should have posted this somewhere else (or not at all).

Is that Hayden Whateverhissurnameis? And is that what Anakin is going to look like in Episode III? Ergh. Hey, I just thought of something. I have a lot of friends who are always talking about how Episode III will have to cover a lot to catch up with A New Hope, but I always tell them it doesn't and don't seem to understand why they don't get that. Well, today it struck me: A) they're not STAR WARS freaks like us, and B) they think that Episode III will cover everything from the end of AOTC to the start of ANH. They never thought the movies didn't have to cover everything, did they? Do you all get what I'm saying? Do any of you find yourselves with similar people?

He said he didn't want a new insignia... I thought I forwarded those e-mails he sent to me to you... I'll resend them.

Well, there are really no unbiased viewpoints. People like to call themselves unbiased, fair, and balanced. They're not.. unless you're a machine. PM me or IM and we'll debate sometime. I didn't mean any hostility, Evaders, I was simply curious. But he is indeed very outspoken.

No, merely short sighted: -2.00 on the left and -2.50 on the right. Nonetheless, it might be nice to mention that my sight, when corrected properly by lenses or glasses, is in the top 5% (the hundred percent including those people who don't have a visual 'impairment').I was just joking, my friend. I invite anyone who says this kind of thing to a drinking contest... unless they're A) Scottish, or B) Irish.or C) me.